A new phase of collecting. 0

[Rick2you2]

7 hours ago, vodou said:

(very) understanding missus

My other half won't go to comic shows or comic art shows anymore. Last time I went to one in NJ, w/o her, I saw Howard Chaykin. They have  met and he thought she was a wise woman to skip 'em. At least she doesn't complain when I go (much). I think she's understanding because she figures I could be doing a lot worse. 

[Stefanomjr]

I've not been at this hobby for very long. I think I lucked out with my first serious purchase, in 2015, being a cover, a splash page and a DPS - all from a current book I really enjoyed. One thing that struck me from early conversations with long-time collectors is that they all said they had a period where they over-bought lots of various art, followed by a period where they looked to zero in on a specific focus - resulting in pruning back large parts of the collection that didn't fit within the focus, as well as buying more strategically. I'd rather avoid the part of the collecting cycle that involves amassing too much art that in hindsight I could have done without. So I've only bought a piece or two each year - all current art. I've got a wishlist of art and artists that fall within the "nostalgia" category, and I've attempted to bid on a few pieces on HA - have yet to win though. I'd rather have one fabulous example of an artist or a character than a handful of b- level art. I feel if I can skip that middle part of the collecting life-cycle then I'll be better for it....patience! In the meantime I am obsessed with checking ComicLink, Heritage auctions, 2DG, and CAF - (and looking to attend more art conventions) always looking for what's out there....and that, for me, is just as fun, if not more-so than the acquisition itself.  

Edited May 13, 2019 by Stefanomjr
clarification

[vodou]

19 minutes ago, Stefanomjr said:

I'd rather have one fabulous example of an artist or a character than a handful of b- level art. I feel if I can skip that middle part of the collecting life-cycle then I'll be better for it....patience!

The huge downside to skipping that middle part is you'll have a very hard time parting with what handful of gems you do have; your hand is all face cards. As long as your disposable income or tappable savings is such that there's nothing you really, really, really want that you can't insta-buy at/above market price (now and in the future)...good to go. Otherwise, like the rest of us, something truly great will come along that's so far beyond: a) your expectations that you could ever have a shot at it, and b) your ability to stretch all known sources w/o selling other art to make certain it happens. When that day comes, it will, you will have to let that piece move past you or sell some cherry gemstones from that rather small crown to get that whale gemstone. Or...

...have effloads of b-level art picked up for the right price at moments of boredom or distraction and that, assuming the bull market continues, has pace with or even exceeded the price growth of the whale you're eyeballing. Then you open that war chest, pick the stuff you really won't miss and make it happen, funding either some or all of your whale that way...and keeping all the rest of your gemstones to boot.

[Rick2you2]

1 hour ago, Stefanomjr said:

I've not been at this hobby for very long. I think I lucked out with my first serious purchase, in 2015, being a cover, a splash page and a DPS - all from a current book I really enjoyed. One thing that struck me from early conversations with long-time collectors is that they all said they had a period where they over-bought lots of various art, followed by a period where they looked to zero in on a specific focus - resulting in pruning back large parts of the collection that didn't fit within the focus, as well as buying more strategically. I'd rather avoid the part of the collecting cycle that involves amassing too much art that in hindsight I could have done without. So I've only bought a piece or two each year - all current art. I've got a wishlist of art and artists that fall within the "nostalgia" category, and I've attempted to bid on a few pieces on HA - have yet to win though. I'd rather have one fabulous example of an artist or a character than a handful of b- level art. I feel if I can skip that middle part of the collecting life-cycle then I'll be better for it....patience! In the meantime I am obsessed with checking ComicLink, Heritage auctions, 2DG, and CAF - (and looking to attend more art conventions) always looking for what's out there....and that, for me, is just as fun, if not more-so than the acquisition itself.  

One reason people have a lot of so-so art is you have to develop a sense of both preference and taste. What you like now, you may not like in the future—and vice-versa.

I have a fair pile of B and C level art (as well as some nice pieces). But, the lower “quality” ones still make me happy. A lot of purchases are nostalgia driven, so just go out and enjoy. 

[kbmcvay]

I've pretty much reached the point of what is described above. I've taken a lot of the smaller pieces I had acquired over the years and traded them in for larger pieces. I'm in the middle of trade right now that once completed will be the last one of these I can/will be willing to make. The main point was to parse down the number of pieces I had into something more manageable, while retaining the overall value into pieces (so trading 10 pages worth $3,500 for one worth the same amount - give or take a little - not an exact science but fair trades for both sides) I've got a good amount of nice 4 figure artwork I'm happy with now and have gone from about 50 pages to about half that. I also think its easier to define value of a mid four figure piece than a bunch (5-10) of pieces that equal that amount so they would be easier to quantify price if needed down the road.

[Stefanomjr]

1 hour ago, vodou said:

The huge downside to skipping that middle part is you'll have a very hard time parting with what handful of gems you do have; your hand is all face cards. As long as your disposable income or tappable savings is such that there's nothing you really, really, really want that you can't insta-buy at/above market price (now and in the future)...good to go. Otherwise, like the rest of us, something truly great will come along that's so far beyond: a) your expectations that you could ever have a shot at it, and b) your ability to stretch all known sources w/o selling other art to make certain it happens. When that day comes, it will, you will have to let that piece move past you or sell some cherry gemstones from that rather small crown to get that whale gemstone. Or...

...have effloads of b-level art picked up for the right price at moments of boredom or distraction and that, assuming the bull market continues, has pace with or even exceeded the price growth of the whale you're eyeballing. Then you open that war chest, pick the stuff you really won't miss and make it happen, funding either some or all of your whale that way...and keeping all the rest of your gemstones to boot.

Very true - I've pondered purchasing some art pieces - not because I really wanted the art but rather thinking/assuming I might be able to flip the art. But then I wonder if it's worth it...it should be easier to find a better rate of return in the stock market and I'd hope my stock portfolio is outpacing my art portfolio and so if cash is really needed I can log onto my Ameritrade account - rather than start posting sales on CAF.

I think collectors selling B-level art to fund an A-level purchase wasn't so much by design but an unintended positive consequence of the collectors cycle - no?

[vodou]

2 minutes ago, Stefanomjr said:

I think collectors selling B-level art to fund an A-level purchase wasn't so much by design but an unintended positive consequence of the collectors cycle - no?

Most likely. And maybe the past is not an accurate predictor of future results either. The bull may end or slow down enough that the market will become very choosy, but for the entire time I've been collecting the only mistake one could make with mainstream Big Two stuff from the sixties to eighties was...selling it, or much worse...never buying it to begin with

5 minutes ago, Stefanomjr said:

...it should be easier to find a better rate of return in the stock market and I'd hope my stock portfolio is outpacing my art portfolio and so if cash is really needed I can log onto my Ameritrade account - rather than start posting sales on CAF.

Hey, I have no idea about making buying decisions today but...wow no, my comic art collection has vastly outperformed anything broad/generic you could point an Ameritrade at, unless you're talking about "putting it all into AAPL right before iPod was announced" or something artificial like that. But maybe I just got lucky?

 

[Nexus]

Something else to consider: Having a B-level example of something I want represented in my collection, is better than having no example. I've seen this with happen with friends over the years. They're waiting for the "right" WATCHMEN page to show up, and let what they perceive as lesser pages pass them by. Well, that right page might never show up. Or if it does, will be far beyond what they want to spend. Worse, those B pages they let pass by, are now also beyond what they want to spend.

One of my first wants was a Miller DD page. Ideally one with DD and Bullseye, or DD and Elektra. Nothing like that was available, and to pry one from someone else's collection would have cost an arm and a leg. So I "settled" for a page of just DD. 13 years later, I still have it, and it's my Miller DD example. Sometimes, that "placeholder" ends up being the permanent piece.

[vodou]

15 minutes ago, Nexus said:

One of my first wants was a Miller DD page. Ideally one with DD and Bullseye, or DD and Elektra. Nothing like that was available, and to pry one from someone else's collection would have cost an arm and a leg. So I "settled" for a page of just DD. 13 years later, I still have it, and it's my Miller DD example. Sometimes, that "placeholder" ends up being the permanent piece. 

That's exactly how I ended up with hot Black Kiss cover nearly twenty years ago instead of an AF garters 'n panties cover (2, 4, 5-especially!!, 16, etc). Still waiting for one of them to come up for the right price

[comicinkking.com]

Is it against the rules to reply to a two month old thread?  This is a fun discussion and I've definitely had some phases:

Phase 1: Buying pretty inexpensive art.  I think the first piece I ever bought was a Mike Vossburg She-Hulk page that was pretty terrible.  But I just wanted to hold an original in my hands.  It's pretty amazing however how quickly you can go up in what you're willing to spend....

Phase 2: Buying art that is considerably more expensive and also buying almost anything that caught my eye.  I'm a big 80's guy but... EC art?  Sure.  Comic strip art?  Why not?  Nothing was off limits.

Phase 3: Pruning the collection.  I decided to stop putting any more cash into comic art - and I forced myself to only buy new pieces by selling off old ones.  This turned out to be the best move I ever made.  I might sell three pieces to buy one other one - but I LOVED the new piece and realized I didn't care much about losing the other three.  So I went from having a big variety and more pieces, to fewer, more valuable (both in dollars and sentiment) pieces.  This also helped me realize what my "sweet spot" was - the 80's.

Phase 4:  I assumed I was retired and that my big buying days were over.  I'd scratched all the itches I really wanted to and had examples of just about everything I wanted.  But to my surprise I sold off pieces I never thought I'd sell and found amazing pieces that I never thought I'd find!  I'm still buying and selling stuff pretty frequently and having fun with it.  I never get tired of getting a new piece of art.  There's so much good art out there - it's hard to NOT be able to find something that sparks your interest.